Well, frankly, everything is new in February. This is the first e-newsletter published by the Committees on Education of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and Grand Council of Cryptic Masons of Oklahoma.

Each month we will be exploring a topic which we hope will be of interest to Royal Arch and Cryptic Masons. We will begin each issue with an outline of an educational presentation appropriate for a Chapter or Council stated meeting.

This will be followed by monitorial and encyclopedic instruction complementing the meeting lesson, which members may peruse at their leisure. Also included in each issue will be additional articles, videos, and links to even more information about that month’s topic.

For our first issue, we have chosen to explore the Mark Master degree and the history of the Mason’s mark. For our suggested educational presentation, we have chosen a lesson on that portion of the Mark Master degree that involves the “Inspection by the Overseers.” And we have turned to Albert Mackey for our monitorial and encyclopedic instruction.

The practical lessons of the Mark Master degree are examined in an article from The Royal Arch Mason Magazine. The history of the Mason’s mark and the Mark Master degree are explained, particularly from a Scottish perspective, in two videos by noted Masonic scholar Robert L.D. Cooper. And we conclude with links to even more information about this month’s topic.

So that’s it for our first issue. We hope that it is enough to maintain your interest for the month. For our next issue in March, we will explore one of the Cryptic degrees. We will return to the Chapter degrees in April.